Any good English teacher understands the importance of an analogy when trying to make a point. So while countless words have already been written about education, we’re going to take a step back, and think about education as a soccer game.

Just imagine, it’s half-time, we’re all exhausted, and we’re losing. Our team huddle starts with an overview of where we are – the state of the game – and it doesn’t look good. What we know is that:

1. Students are struggling. Test scores have reached historic lows (Mervosh & Wu, 2022).
2. Teachers are leaving. One-third of U.S. educators are currently thinking of leaving their job (Bryant et al., 2023) while education professionals on average report worse well-being than other adults (Steiner et al., 2022).
3. Inequity is increasing. Teachers of color are more likely to leave the profession and well-being is especially poor among Hispanic/Latinx teachers and female teachers and principals (Steiner et al., 2022). Furthermore, teacher shortages disproportionately affect low income schools (Grabenstin, 2022).

These trends are not new. We have played the game this way for decades now. Coming on the heels of a pandemic however, we’re particularly out of shape, our weaknesses have been exposed, and victory feels more impossible than ever.

Many have tried, and continue to make valiant attempts, to improve our K-12 education system. Billions of dollars have been poured into public and private investments for research and re-design efforts. There have been bright spots to be sure, with great schools coming in a variety of forms – public, private, magnet, charter, independent-study, etc. But so far, none have spread broadly enough to fix the underlying issues. And a model that works great somewhere, doesn’t necessarily produce the same results elsewhere. What we have seen is that, there is not a quick play or formation that is going to help us win this game. 

The Lasso Way

Now might be when you’re asking yourself what this has to do with Ted Lasso, or soccer for that matter? First, for anyone who is not familiar with the TV show Ted Lasso, allow a brief explainer. It is about an American football coach who moves to England to coach an English football (soccer) team at the elite level. Of course, comedy ensues. But so do important life lessons. Because while Ted Lasso knows very little about the game of soccer when he begins coaching, what he does know is people. Through his human-centered approach to coaching, in which he focuses on uplifting his players as the unique individuals they are, he creates a culture throughout his team and organization that produces success.

While fictional, this show encapsulates what research tells us about real-life leadership, group dynamics, and transforming cultures to produce better outcomes. As researcher and author Simon Sinek argues in his 2009 Ted Talk “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,”, we all have the ability to do great things given the right environment. He emphasizes that getting the environment right comes down to the leader and the tone that they set, explaining that “When people feel safe and protected by the leader in the organization, the natural reaction is to trust and cooperate” (Sinek, 2009).

The TV show Ted Lasso demonstrates this phenomenon. A leader (Ted Lasso) creates a climate that allows people to be themselves, and to be appreciated. From this place, Ted Lasso’s players support one another as they each grow to become better individuals, team-mates, and more successful professionals.

Transferring These Lessons to Education

As Ted Lasso (and actual research) shows us, the culture of a team, as fostered by its leaders, matters immensely to how successful it is. And in addition to everything else schools are, they are–fundamentally–teams.

Approaching this situation–our half-time huddle–with a Ted Lasso mindset leads us to ask, what if in order to address teacher morale and student outcomes we don’t have to wait around while we redesign the entire education system? What if we need to make people feel like they matter?

In the 1950s, the US Navy enlisted psychologist Will Schutz to study and enhance Navy personnel’s interpersonal relations and satisfaction. His work aimed to enhance the effectiveness and cohesion of Navy teams by examining the dynamics of interpersonal relationships within these groups.  This work led to the development of the FIRO (Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation) theory, emphasizing fundamental needs and behaviors in group dynamics. Schutz’s research showed that increased inclusion and relevance within a group fosters self-esteem, openness, generosity, trust, and cooperation, ultimately promoting effective teamwork and positive organizational outcomes (Schutz, 1958).

These findings have been corroborated across sectors, including in schools. In the 2022 State of the American Teacher Survey, Steiner et al. (2002) found that, “positive school climates – particularly positive adult relationships – were key sources of job satisfaction and reasons many teachers stay. As one teacher said, ‘It’s [the reason I stay:] the school climate.”

Game Plan

Positive cultures do not just happen. They are intentionally created by thoughtful leaders, à la Ted Lasso. As we have seen, the common denominator to good schools is people, and particularly good leaders. Instead of trying to design the perfect model or play to out-smart our opponents (i.e. obstacles), Ted Lasso inspires us to imagine what would happen if we focus our time and energy on our greatest resource – our team-mates. We can do this by taking the following steps:

• Seek out leadership coaching: Even seasoned professionals have areas for development. Working with a coach provides leaders the opportunity to gain insights and feedback from someone whose main objective is to support their personal and professional growth. The feedback is impartial and removed from the daily politics of a day-to-day workplace. This allows it to remain rooted in big picture thinking while also providing practical advice. Leadership can be lonely, but there is no need to go it alone.To find a great coach, starting by asking colleagues for recommendations is a helpful first step. Websites such as Noomi, which act as clearinghouses and referral systems, can also be valuable resources. Similar to education, coaching often necessitates certification. Therefore, seeking a coach certified by the International Coaching Federation is advisable to distinguish experienced professionals from those simply using the title of ‘coach’ without the requisite training and expertise in facilitating change and learning.
• Prioritize connection: Most people can relate to the feeling of being “too busy” to make space for personal connections that are not needed to immediately achieve an objective. This is a flawed way of prioritizing time. Connection is vital to the work educators do, and as the research shows, teams in which people feel seen, valued, and heard, produce better results. Prioritizing time for connection is an investment in creating a culture that will reap positive outcomes.
• Offer retreats: These offer deeper spaces for connection as well as advancing the high level work. They are also opportunities to develop and enhance organizational leaders in their own growth by passing on the leadership coaching gems that organizational leaders are hopefully gleaning.
• Establish norms: Having clear organizational norms creates the foundation for individuals and cultures to grow. Being clear and consistent about what these – ideally, mutually agreed upon norms – are, helps them to become ways of being for the whole team. Just like a soccer team that wears the same colors looks like they fit together, a team that uses similar language, ways of communicating, and rituals, will feel like a cohesive unit.

So the only question left is, do you believe?

References

Begeman, S. & Bolourian, A. (2023). The Critical Role of Teacher Wellbeing in Retaining 

Teachers of Color. Education First. https://www.education-first.com/the-critical-role-of-teacher-wellbeing-in-retaining-teachers-of-color/

Bryant et al. (2023). K-12 teachers are quitting. What would make them stay? McKinsey. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/k-12-teachers-are-quitting-what-would-make-them-stay

Carr et al. (2019, December 16). The Value of Belonging at Work. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/12/the-value-of-belonging-at-work

Grabenstein, H. (2022, Nov 21). ‘When districts can’t find teachers, students suffer.’ Here’s Why teacher shortages are disproportionately hurting low-income schools. PBS News Hour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/

Mervosh, S. & Wu, A. (2022, October 14). Math Scores Fell in Nearly Every State, and

Reading Dipped on National Exam. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/24/us/math-reading-scores-pandemic.html

Sinek, S. (2009, September). How great leaders inspire action [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

Schutz, W. (1958). FIRO: A Three-Dimensional Theory of Interpersonal Behavior. Rinehart.

Steiner et al., (2022). Restoring Teacher and Principal Well-Being Is an Essential Step for Rebuilding Schools. RAND Corporation. https://doi.org/10.7249/RRA1108-4